VTR cassette tapes are used for such applications as sales promotion and product demonstration, and some tapes used for such applications are much shorter than general commercially-available recording and reproduction tapes such as 30- and 60-minute tapes. Thus, the inventor invented and applied for a cassette tape wherein the diameter of a reel is reduced for shorter tapes to form an extra space inside the cassette body, in which a section for accommodating a small article is provided (Japanese Patent Application No. 9-194973).
This conventional invention of a cassette tape has a structure wherein a recess section is provided in the top surface of the cassette body to accommodated a small article in the recess section, and wherein the recess section is closed by a cover. The inventor also improved this structure in which a small article is accommodated in the cassette body, in order to develop and apply for an invention wherein an opening in the accommodation section can be opened and closed (Japanese Patent Application No. 10-82987).
According to the latter invention, however, the cover is journaled into the body via a single vertical shaft so as to be laterally opened and closed, and is pushed back to a closed position by a spring. Thus, something may be caught in the tape to prevent the cover from being completely closed, and in this case, the cassette tape cannot be inserted in a video tape recorder. In addition, this invention requires the spring that pushes the cover and an engagement means having a complicated structure for closing the cover, thereby increasing the number of required parts and assembly steps. These are the problems with this invention.